At an account management conference we spoke at in May (the Strategic Account Management Association's annual conference), we had a chance to see a procurement panel, featuring 3 different senior level procurement executives. These executives fielded questions from the moderator and shared their views on a number of issues around supplier relationships. Predictably, a key theme was that suppliers needed to do everything they could to satisfy procurement, all in an effort to "level the playing field" to support apples-to-apples comparisons.

The conference was attended by strategic account managers who represent value-leading companies across many different industries. Leveling the playing field does not serve them well, as they are rarely the cheapest solution. One audience member asked this question of the panel, "Our job is to develop preference for our company, solutions and team, so how do we rectify this with what you are saying?" It's was great question, and an important one.

The answers coming from the panel members were a bit vague. They stressed the importance of dealing with the procurement team, but also seemed to agree that the job of a relationship manager was bigger than that. In the end, there was recognition that we need to get to the functional executives and try to build relationships.

The reality of our situation is complex. Yes, we need to deal effectively with procurement, but we still need to get to decision makers, which we define as "people who have the budget, interest and ability to buy our value". In this era of collaboration, it seems there are fewer of them, and that they are harder to find, yet it's never been more important to find them and develop a preference for our company/solution. This will serve us well, even in our relationships with procurement.

One last thought, when we do find these decision makers, we need to understand that their expectations of us have never been higher.